That’s what I told my cousin (and classmate) back in 1994 when the School of Nursing students came back to the main campus to participate in the election of the graduating class officers that year. You see, there are at least 5 major schools in the college I graduated from, the School of Nursing, being on of them. We were at least 160 students strong, about the same number of students from the other 4 schools combined.

We met at a multipurpose hall that sat about 300 students. Interestingly enough, the right side of the hall were occupied by the School of Nursing students, while the left side were occupied by the others, who, unfortunately were outnumbered because not everyone attended the election meeting. I was seated on the left side, opposite my classmates who were all riled up when they found out that a conspiracy was taking place. The hall was getting loud, and the faculty conducting the meeting couldn’t control the chaos. I had enough of the noise, so I stood up and commanded them to STOP! Thankfully, they did.

You see, for the last 4 years, the graduating class president was always from the School of Nursing. The people from the “main campus” wanted a change because they didn’t want “4 more of the same”, so they had a plan. They would rally together against the School of Nursing and elect their candidate, who I’ll call Arnold. We had no idea that they were cookin’ this up until we came to the meeting hall. On our way to the meeting I had told my cousin, I’ll be your next president… I did have doubts, but you can probably say that was a bold statement on my part. In a way, I wanted to be president but didn’t really want the responsibility that came with it, however, if I didn’t become president, that would be a disappointment, mostly to those who expected me to win. And so, here we were… nominees were taken, and I qualified to be nominated, that is to say, having a GPA > 3 (4 being the highest). Unlike today’s politics, there was no time for campaigns, adds, and the like. My nomination acceptance speech was basically an “OK”, when my classmates said, “you’re our presidential candidate, OK?!” Fine… feed me to the dogs why don’t you?! 😦

There were 5 presidential nominees, I was one of them. I won by a landslide. What can I say, majority rules. My opponent Arnold was disappointed. He was sure that those who sat on the left side of the hall supported him so they could break the 4 year streak. Unfortunately, not everyone attended the election, and that cost them the race. On that note, I know that Sen. Obama is ahead in the polls, and that he attracts the “younger” crowd, you know, the MTV generation. I wonder tho, if this will be the case come November 4. How many young, hip, “MTV generation” people will actually take time to register and vote to make a difference and break that “4 more of the same” streak? You can voice your opinion, you can name your candidate, but if you don’t get out there and vote, just shut up and save your breath… remember, ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS… and this goes for both candidates as well.

We are living in extraordinary times. America is at the crossroads of history. These past few weeks have been one of uncertainty, especially with the instability of our economy, marked by the collapse of a few large companies that threaten to put us in a standstill. The talks about the bailout and what Washington is doing to “help” us is a last ditch effort to contain the damage most critics say is caused by the very individuals who are helping us “fix” this problem. Our next president is facing tough economic and security challenges. There is no doubt that America is perceived as having been “weakened” mostly by the economic meltdown, government overspending, the war in Iraq, and the chaos at Wall Street. Our current and former enemies are taking advantage of this vulnerability. Chinas has us on a noose thanks to our debt, Russia is trying to rebuild the old empire, Iran is threatening to develop its nuclear program, Venezuela is looking for new oil consumers and is strengthening its ties with both Russia and China. The list goes on and on, and on top of this, both candidates, Obama and McCain claims that they are the answer to America’s dilemma, and to add insult to injury, politically inclined “non-biased” new media like MSNBC, CNN, and FOX adds fuel to the fire by injecting their own ideas of what is happening, who should lead, and what should happen, etc… etc… blah, blah, blah! C’mon give me a break! If there’s anyone to blame (with all this finger pointing), we should stand in front of the mirror and do what Uncle Sam does…

Why? Here’s why…

Who elected these government officials in the first place?… We did. Who got greedy by taking in more credit or buy a house that we can’t afford to repay? We did. Who listens to these network news media and base our decisions on a few so-called “experts” opinions? We did. Who stood at the sidelines and decided not to vote in the last election? We did. And if we want to get out of this rut, I think we should stop the blame game and take a more active role by taking more responsibility for our own action.

Hey, don’t get me wrong, I’m part of the problem as much as I’m part of the solution. We’re all in this together whether you believe it or not. Today is not the time to be passive, but to take an active role for the good of the country. I’m no political expert, nor am I an economic expert. In fact, the closest thing to “politics” I’ve encountered was that presidential nomination and election when yours truly became the Graduating Class President of 1994. I didn’t have to fix the economy, didn’t have to win a war, didn’t have prior experience. One thing I do know is that despite everything that is going on around us, there is Someone up there that is in charge and in control. The best thing we can do is get on our knees and pray, and ask for guidance and wisdom from above, so that come November 4, we can make the right choice. As the Bible says,“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14), and this my friend is something you can bank on.

I’m sure you remember where you were and what you were doing that fateful day when cowards hijacked airplanes and flew them into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Time seem to have stood still, and as the nation watched the events unfold, for a while, we trully became the United States of America.

We felt the loss and the pain, and everyone rallied together to help those in need. For a while we put aside our differences, we stretched out our hand, we laid down our pride, we went to church, some for the very first time… America had been awaken. Seven years later, the embers have died, the dust has settled, and we’re back to “business as usual”.

This year’s memorial falls on an election year, and like the days following collapse of the Twin Towers, we are facing another fork in the road. Unfortunately it’s been said that the events of September 11 have been “politicized”, and as the campaigns heat up, we are bombarded by messages “change” and “reform”.

Regardless of which party you lean towards, lets not forget the events of September 11… the day America for once, was united… not against “terrorist”, but against apathy toward each other. For once, we really cared for our fellow man.

As we remember those who lost their lives seven years ago today, let us also remember those who have sacrificed their lives by serving our country overseas… the brave men and women who are fighting to preserve our freedom. Let’s not trivialize their sacrifice in this “unpopular war”. Let’s get down on our knees, humble ourselves before God and ask Him to help us make the right decision this coming November. The great king Nebuchadnezzar puts it well when he said,

At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal dominion;
his kingdom endures from generation to generation.

All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: “What have you done?”

At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.(Daniel 4:34-35)

There’s nothing that ticks me off more than having services like XRAY touch my patient and leaving them in a mess.

Imagine this…

It’s 06:30, end of your shift. You make your final rounds only to discover that your patient whom you’ve spent at least an hour giving a bath, and getting the patient ready for the next shift, is soaking wet from a dislodged tube feeding… gastric contents soiling the gown and bottom sheet. To make matters worse, you don’t see it immediately because he looks clean on the outside up until you pull the covers off of him. In 15 minutes the next shift comes in and you still have to close your charts… what do you do?

Unfortunately this sort of thing happens all the time. Every morning XRAY leaves a mess after they touch our patients. If its not a disloged GT, it may be a glass of water knocked off the table, or the patient being left in an awkward position after they’re done doing XRAYs. For whatever reason, they can’t seem to clean up after themselves and quite frankly it gets downright annoying. Granted that they are also part of this health care delivery system and that XRAY is important, I think they should be respectful enough, if not for the sake of the nurse but for the patient’s sake, to actually get down and dirty and clean up after themselves. Hey, I don’t think they’d appreciate it if I came into their house, mess things up and left it like that, right?